Lydia was an Irish immigrant who settled in Philadelphia. She and her husband were Quakers and thus pacifists. They gave birth to nine kids, but only five survived. Their oldest, Charles, enlisted in the Continental Army. When the British captured and occupied Philadelphia, Gen. William Howe took over the house across the street from the Darraghs. The general wanted to use her house as part of his headquarters. The Darraghs did not want to leave, so the agreed to let Howe use their parlor for meetings with the stipulation that the Darraghs had to stay in their rooms upstairs. The Brits trusted them because they were pacifists. That was a naïve assumption because Lydia began to listen in and would send coded messages to Charles by way of a younger brother. On Dec. 2, 1777, the British officers (including John Andre) held an important meeting. The family retired upstairs, but then Lydia snuck out. She heard them talking about a surprise attack on Washington’s army at White Marsh. Lydia got a pass to go purchase flour at a mill. She dropped off her sack and then headed to Washington’s camp. Along the way, she encountered an American officer and she told him about the British plan. When the British arrived, Washington’s men were ready. After a couple of days of skirmishing, Howe called the attack off and his army returned to Philadelphia. Some of the British officers were suspicious, but Lydia insisted her family went to sleep the night of the meeting and the British took her at her word. It’s possible that Lydia saved the Revolution because if Washington’s army had been trounced, the war might have been lost.
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